(American) Avarice

As a society, we want more and more. To such an extent that it’s becoming exceedingly difficult to appreciate what we’ve already gained. Without a moment's pause we just push on toward fulfilling the next desire, and then the next, and the next. It's a cyclical pattern where greed and acquisition of wealth, status, material goods, etc., become the solitary driving force within. But when does it end? Some folks have acquired so much that their desires can no longer be satiated by mere exorbitant excess and it's pushed them towards criminal behavior. Allowing greed to overtake our motivation means there isn’t space for the behaviors that keep us mentally healthy – things like expressing gratitude, appreciating others, building relationships based on trust and loyalty – things necessary for a robust life. Greed, like anger, has the ability to extinguish all other emotions until all that's left is fear and an insatiable need for more.

Politics

Our political parties are too divisive- they've become emotionally attached to their beliefs and it's rendering them unable to cooperate with one another, unable to find middle ground, unable to concede, unable to reason. These are not passionate leaders fighting diligently for their constituents, not at all - they are just arrogantly and stubbornly preventing democracy. Our government is just barely functional - a petty desire to 'win' overrides logic, reason, and sensibility, and each month there is a new threat to Americans that the government will shut down. A new worry that government employees may not get paid, state run businesses and programs may shut down, and millions may not receive government benefits necessary for survival. We have two parties of grown adults that have proven over and over that they cannot and will not work together, even though the safety and security of our country necessitates that they do just that. We elected these people and our taxes pay their salaries. Americans deserve better than the current elected officials who have soundly proven that they are unqualified to effectively govern a nation.

Furthermore, political candidates should not be allowed to accept campaign donations from businesses and organizations. It’s a conflict of human interest and it’s truly messed everything up in this country. Large donors, like the church, or the NRA, get to imprint their beliefs on governances that should be impartial. Politicians are beholden to their campaign donors and if they hope to keep the cash rolling in then the candidate will need to make the donor's desires their own. We can see the utter chaos that has ensued from this misalignment in the fact that there are women living in states, in this great country, that no longer have a say over their own bodies. I’m in disbelief to even write that statement in 2024. Unfortunately, we have far too many instances where the NRA’s control over government officials has yielded deadly results. I’m not anti-gun ownership, but we lack any legislation and oversight that attempts to keep guns out of the wrong hands. The trauma of gun violence is an American creation and we send the message loud and clear to the entire world that guns are more important to America than public safety. There are too many families suffering the loss of a loved one that may have been prevented with reasonable government oversight.

Journalism

Journalism has been headed to hell in a hand basket for a while now. It’s not a hot take that journalists often get it wrong, they lie to sell a story, or they omit small, but vitally important, details in a self-imposed rush to be the first to say “Breaking News…”. Being the first to break a story has become more important than relaying accurate details, and it’s a shame because the one that gets it right is most often not the one that breaks the story. Instead of doing something about it and holding journalists accountable for the truth – we just allow lies, exaggerations, and half-truths to be tossed about – because free speech, right? Our “rights” as individuals are taking precedence over truth, compassion, and justice for all. Each news story has several variations and it is left to the public to determine which one is true – regrettably, a factor in determination is too often political party affiliation. We have allowed journalists with selfish intentions and a pathetic desire for ego-stroking the ability to present news in intentionally misleading ways in an effort to perpetuate a certain outcome, or fortify a belief – i.e., election fraud. We have people living in this country that think we have a real government and a fake government. Anything disagreeable is attributed to the “fake government” while the “real government” fights like hell to protect their rights. As a society we call these people uneducated, foolish, naive for believing what the media is telling them is in their best interest. We shame victims of misinformation for falling for these absurd tales and yet we do nothing to ebb the flow of falsehoods. Broadcast journalism is no longer a trusted source of information - the greed for clicks that boost ratings leads unscrupulous journalists to rely on attention-grabbing, not entirely true, headlines. It’s imperative that journalists realize that reporting news is a tremendous responsibility. What would happen if humanity was wiped out due to some sort of global catastrophe? Future societies wouldn't be able to decipher from our electronic data what was true and what wasn't. We just have a giant clusterfuck of fact, fiction, and hyperbole.

Stock Market and Business Investing

Much like politicians are beholden to their campaign donors; businesses are beholden to shareholders and investors. The stock market has become a way to perpetuate a cycle of greed that keeps a select few Americans at the top of Forbes lists. To keep funds coming in for research and development and to start new projects companies are forced to give in to unrealistic demands of shareholders. When greed becomes the motive for growth and production, important costs are cut – quality, safety, and value are ignored as quantity becomes the sole factor that determines growth of cost per share. It’s a skewed way of doing business as only a select few benefit from the exchange. We are seeing the devastation that greed has wreaked on the aviation industry. The downfall of Boeing should be insight on how greed operates in America. Greed prevailed over safety and corners were cut, quality diminished, and projects were prematurely declared complete. Now we have planes drifting off runways and doors flying off mid-flight. Warren Buffet recently compared our current stock market to a casino. I agree, pump and dump schemes, investment fraud, and meme stocks have made a mockery of something that was once a lauded way to invest in the success of an American company and earn a little money while doing so.

The top selling business stocks on U.S. exchanges used to be called FAANG, but the changing of parent company names and a fluctuating economy caused the acronym to fall apart. Then they were referred to as “The Magnificent Seven” and now we seem to be going with the “Fab Four” and I want to call out these misnomers - The only thing that makes these companies magnificent or fabulous, is the fact that they generate a lot of money for shareholders. Most of the companies are unbearable to work for and have found themselves embroiled in countless lawsuits. How fabulous is Amazon as a company? It says a lot to me about the success of a company when the top dog is sitting on billions of dollars while entry level employees at the same company are eligible to receive government benefits. As an economy, we should be fining these corporations for each employee they have that lives below poverty level. This is where we should be bitter about taxes. American tax payers pay for the health care, and sometimes, food costs of Amazon workers while executives and shareholders pocket funds that could be used to pay livable salaries to their workers. A wealth distribution so skewed it could only be spawned by greed.

What makes these companies so great to our country? Sure, they provide a lot of American’s with jobs, but if it doesn’t keep them above the line of poverty then how can we call it anything but broken? I can’t imagine that most of Amazon’s employees would agree that the company is magnificent. I know this is a controversial opinion, but I believe the greatest downfall of Amazon was the introduction of two-day shipping. It places ridiculous, often impossible, metrics on the entire staff to get a product off of a shelf, packaged, shipped, and delivered to the buyer within two short days. The rigid parameters mean that employees don’t have enough time in their day to allow for bathroom breaks and they certainly don’t have time for necessary training on what to do in case of an emergency – like what to do when a hurricane is headed toward the factory. Woefully, the employees that have to stress the most about the absurd shipping metrics are also likely to be the ones that fall below a certain line in income. Is it fabulous when employees have to urinate in bottles? Is it magnificent when a company can’t stay fully staffed because the conditions of employment are so abysmal?

Economy

We have a presidential election coming up and we are treating it like a dog and pony show. Two aged candidates battling for a position that may be beyond the capacity of either of them. Both candidates are out of touch with the majority of the citizens that call this country home. A country whose citizens are drowning in student debt, medical bills, high interest credit cards, and housing costs. The bulk of most people’s take-home pay is spent on these four items – it doesn’t leave much wiggle room for bolstering a fading US economy. It’s a travesty that American citizens don’t have access to free healthcare as most other nations do. Insurance in America is a massive, for-profit business and many wealthy individuals would stand to lose a lot of money if insurance was a government provision. As it stands now, insurance is a necessity and providers can up-charge the shit out of it. Health insurance in America is a scam – The industry is rife with greed as commissions, bonuses, and even vacations are given to those that can oversell the most products to consumers. I worked in Medicare case management for five years and despite strong government regulations placed on the Medicare division there was still a lot of potential to rip people off. The company I worked for treated consumers and employees alike as cash cows – nothing was protected but the bottom line. Insurance providers and brokerages are well-known to engage in predatory practices – the whole industry is predatory. Customers are deceived by practices like grouping unnecessary policies in a package bundle along with an individual health insurance plan. I have linked a lawsuit here and I encourage everyone to look it over to make sure you haven’t fallen for one of these "sales incentives". There is no such thing as a bundle and you can absolutely purchase a single, solitary health insurance policy even if your agent tells you that you must also buy a vision policy, a dental policy, an accident policy, or any other plan. The incentives offered to agents are meant to promote overselling. A good example of this is that most consumers who contact a health insurance brokerage are just looking for standard major medical policy – however, the commissions offered on the sale of those policies is negligible compared to commissions offered on supplemental or add-on policies. If agents want to make money then they will need to sell policies other than major medical – and that they do – often by bundling policies together. I worked at a dumpy brokerage in Oregon and it was appalling to drive into work each morning to see BMWs, Teslas, Audis, and other expensive cars – it looked more like a luxury car dealership than a health insurance brokerage.

It’s woeful to know that there are so many American families that walk a financial tightrope each month – knowing that they are one accident, one diagnosis, one setback away from being devastated by financial ruin. Will it ever change? I don’t see how, because anytime an idea is floated that could better things for American citizens it gets attacked by the opposing side – seemingly, for the sole reason that it was suggested by the other party. How embarrassing for our country that elected officials of The United States of America are playing petty games when so very much is at stake. Lately, I’ve been hearing people use the quote; a rising tide lifts all boats- and I love the accuracy of the sentiment. Not everyone in America is going to benefit from all policies, laws, statutes, amendment, etc. that are proposed. That’s an impossible task and it’s never been the goal – not ever. Rather, the goal is to create a better society so that we can grow as a country, then all of our ships can rise, so to speak. Take for example, decreasing the cost burden of student loans, not everyone will benefit from this proposal - however, the money that would be freed up for so many borrowers will benefit a dying US economy. And who knows, maybe our younger generations will decide that they can afford to have children after all.